Many of the Venetian
masks
on sale today are derived
from the Carnevale of old:
the ones representing
characters from the
Commedia
dell'Arte (Pierrot,
Harlequin, Columbine) for
example, and the classic
white half-mask called a
volto
, with a kind of beak over
the mouth so the wearer
could eat and drink.
Although masks are worn
only during the ten days
of Carnevale, they are on
sale all year round; most
designs are conveyor-belt
stuff, which you'll soon
recognize - for genuinely
crafted examples, go to
one of the following.
Bottega dei
Mascareri , Calle del
Cristo 2919 (San Polo).
Run for many years by the
brothers Sergio and
Massimo Boldrin, the
Bottega dei Mascareri
sells some wonderfully
inventive masks, such as
faces taken from Tiepolo
paintings or Donald
Sutherland in Fellini's Casanova
.
Ca' Macana ,
Calle delle Botteghe 3172
(Dorsoduro). Huge mask
shop, with perhaps the
biggest stock in the city;
has another branch on the
other side of Campo San
Barnaba, at Barbaria delle
Tole 1169.
MondoNovo , Rio
Terrą Canal 3063,
Dorsoduro. This workshop,
located just off Campo S.
Margherita, is perhaps the
most imaginative in the
city, producing everything
from ancient Greek tragic
masks to portraits of
Richard Wagner.
Tragicomica ,
Calle dei Nomboli 2800,
San Polo. A good range and
some nice
eighteenth-century styles,
as you might expect from a
shop that's opposite
Goldoni's house.
